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Why aren't there giant billboards on the side of busses that say "Verse your commonwealth rivals on the country's best coaster? As @joz mentioned, why aren't there different countries having a race down the aqua racers for a bit of good fun and commonwealth spirit? How many other commonwealth countries have baby tigers or the beautiful native wildlife we have? Every day there should be something incredible going on with the athletes and our parks. There's an opportunity to tap in to dozens of countries and gain new influence and advertise what's on offer that's totally been wasted in my opinion. For Dreamworld, there could've been: - "Freestyle divers take on the freefall of Dreamworld's Giant Drop" - "Dreamworld helps gymnasts cool down next door with a splash with baby tigers" - "Kenny Koala and a dozen of his koala friends get cuddly with athletes at Dreamworld" - "Local and neighbouring indigenous athletes get one on one weapons training with 16 year-old Dreamworld Corroboree rockstar." And as for Village Roadshow Theme Parks: - "John Citizen & athlete go head to head on the country's best coaster, Rivals HyperCoaster"" - "The Flash takes on gold-winning marathon champions" - "What's faster? A roller-coaster, Superman, or a gold-medallist runner? We find out." - "Sea World's dolphins impart vital message about conservation to athletes in one on one" - "Athletes tour the country without leaving the Gold Coast at Australian Outback Spectacular" - "Surprised guests catch a wave with Usain Bolt at Wet 'n' Wild" And this is without considering the fact that the games are ripe for guerrilla style marketing. Where was Bugs Bunny cheering on athletes at the Marathon or popping up randomly and being part of the spirit of the games? I would've loved to see Kenny Koala pop in next door in a Model T Ford and for Dreamworld to give out a stack of free passes. Could you imagine if Dreamworld still had a barbershop quartet and they randomly popped up on the strip? Why not do a games challenge for the public? Can you do all the biggest rides on the Gold Coast? Win a free limited edition hat with all the park's logos on them. And there could be so many live events that encourage athletes and volunteers to stay after the games and take the parks up on the opportunity to go for free. The ideas go on and on hey, but what do I know, i'm just some random whinging online.

Doh’ Everybody knows storm season is over for Queensland. Running Storm Coaster in non-storm season is like running Wild West Falls in summer. What’s the point?

Let me reminded you what you said: Why aren't there giant billboards on the side of busses that say "Verse your commonwealth rivals on the country's best coaster? As @joz mentioned, why aren't there different countries having a race down the aqua racers for a bit of good fun and commonwealth spirit? How many other commonwealth countries have baby tigers or the beautiful native wildlife we have? Every day there should be something incredible going on with the athletes and our parks. There's an opportunity to tap in to dozens of countries and gain new influence and advertise what's on offer that's totally been wasted in my opinion. For Dreamworld, there could've been: - "Freestyle divers take on the freefall of Dreamworld's Giant Drop" - "Dreamworld helps gymnasts cool down next door with a splash with baby tigers" - "Kenny Koala and a dozen of his koala friends get cuddly with athletes at Dreamworld" - "Local and neighbouring indigenous athletes get one on one weapons training with 16 year-old Dreamworld Corroboree rockstar." And as for Village Roadshow Theme Parks: - "John Citizen & athlete go head to head on the country's best coaster, Rivals HyperCoaster"" - "The Flash takes on gold-winning marathon champions" - "What's faster? A roller-coaster, Superman, or a gold-medallist runner? We find out." - "Sea World's dolphins impart vital message about conservation to athletes in one on one" - "Athletes tour the country without leaving the Gold Coast at Australian Outback Spectacular" - "Surprised guests catch a wave with Usain Bolt at Wet 'n' Wild" And this is without considering the fact that the games are ripe for guerrilla style marketing. Where was Bugs Bunny cheering on athletes at the Marathon or popping up randomly and being part of the spirit of the games? I would've loved to see Kenny Koala pop in next door in a Model T Ford and for Dreamworld to give out a stack of free passes. Could you imagine if Dreamworld still had a barbershop quartet and they randomly popped up on the strip? Why not do a games challenge for the public? Can you do all the biggest rides on the Gold Coast? Win a free limited edition hat with all the park's logos on them. And there could be so many live events that encourage athletes and volunteers to stay after the games and take the parks up on the opportunity to go for free. The ideas go on and on hey, but what do I know, i'm just some random whinging online. Let me show you what you didn't say: Two corporate mascots, a bunch of Australian fauna and the Minister for Tourism stealing a photo op.

DW’s move away from a discount model has come to fruition, they have now moved into a free entry model...

Wet n Wild didn't have a lift for the toboggans until it became the "Double Screamer" with the big ass heavy double plastic toboggans. Prior to that they were timber, damn heavy and you had to carry them. If 2 if you were my dad as I was big enough to ride (WetNWild originally had a crazy small height requirement for that death trap) but not strong enough to carry the sled Many years ago I stumbled upon a document from way back when showing all the injuries/payouts to people hurt at the waterpark and WnW... it was crazy the severity and frequencies of injuries on those old school slides like the toboggans and the speed slides... clear why we don't have them today in sue happy 2018.

And my counter argument is our parks have done a lot with out having to pay through the nose for an "Official Partnership" - which most of your initial suggestions would have required. With the M1 scare campaign prior to the games I'd probably say that the parks were actively discouraged from trying to entice local visitors, and instead focused on enticing future international visitors (which we won't notice the efforts as locals). They have "Donated" thousands of free entries to the parks - Dreamworld has given all athletes and volunteers 1 day free entry, whilst Village Roadshow has given free entry for the entire 11days. As a result Many international athletes and their families are posting to social media from inside the parks to their many followers. Whilst the impact may not be visible to us locals - international media has been filming in our parks (as I mentioned earlier Malaysian and Singaporean crews were at Sea World filming with the dolphins earlier, a New Zealand crew was at Wet n Wild, Craig mentioned media has been to Dreamworld and I'm sure many other international crews have been to the parks. All this International exposure will showcase the Gold Coast as a whole a destination to visit - it's then the parks job to get the tourists through the gates once they are here.

If you're still thirsty for more may I suggest alcohol.

Cue GC council & Qld government trying to reactively build some more “we’re open for business” promotion... bit late now... “we need cuddly animals and a media call to Broadbeach... now!” “can we bring our DW mascots too?” ”nope - no commercial promotion unless you pay us $2m” ”then no Koala’s” ”Bring em down! We’ll even pay you!”

Before the game started I would have agreed with you and if you went by what the Commonwealth Games was telling everybody the Gold Coast was going to go off. The Commonwealth Games sent out letters asking bosses if employees could work from home because it’s going to be busy and hard for people to move around. In reality my normal 30min trip from Hope Island to work is taking me half the time. Nightquater, (located in the main transport hub for the Commonwealth games) was going to be open every night of the games but decided on Wednesday not to open that night and Thursday night. I believe most if not all the supermarkets that were to open 24hrs during the games decided to only open 12hrs a day now. Festival 2018 in Southport has lost half of its stalls because it’s a ghost town. People are going to the sporting events than catching the first train out of here and anybody that is not going to the games is staying away. Businesses have spent a lot of money in readiness for the games and most of them are saying they are down 40% in trade. I’m glad Village didn’t spend millions of dollars for no reward unlike a lot of other businesses.

With respect - that suggestion needed more brain... ^ditto.

As stated the games are very strict with promotional activity. There is no way they would allow Bugs Bunny to just pop up at an event, they don’t even allow you to take in pre-packed food (chips, drinks etc) because of the branded logos on the packets - you have to empty them into clear bags/containers before entering a venue. With sponsorship deals starting at over $2million for 11days, I’d much rather the parks keep the money for future attractions which will do way more for drawing in the crowds. — This info is direct from the Games website: You must not engage in conduct which would suggest that you or your products or services have an association (such as a sponsorship, approval or affiliation) with the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games™ that you do not have. Statements must not be used as a promotional tool or draw specific attention to the Commonwealth Games e.g. theming, highlighted text and Commonwealth Games related headlines are not allowed. Information pertaining to the Commonwealth Games may not be used on signage, billboards, TV advertising, radio advertising or online advertising. Media releases, advertising, promotions, giveaways, packages and alike which reference the Commonwealth Games are strictly forbidden as they are solely designated under sponsorships rights e.g. a ‘Gold Coast 2018 Games Package’ would create an association and be in breach of Commonwealth Games rights.

Maybe VTP evaluated and decided the ROI wasn’t high enough given their target market and the expected tv audience demographics? I seriously doubt either of our parks didn’t investigate and evaluate a partnership opportunity. Maybe they believed the marketing $$ were better spent in more targeted campaigns following the games?

I think Roachie's reply goes more to my thoughts on the parks making the most of the opportunity.

What on earth gave you that idea?

The "4 Park Pass" has been added to ThemeParks.com.au at $189. Worth noting that excluding this pass all the Groupon "deals" for park entry are the same price as ThemeParks.com.au as savings are based on the gate price. Can be a better deal when using 10-15% off deals Groupon frequently run however.

You're absolutely right. One that really grates me is Mick Doohan in the bush setting and not up the end in the Ocean Parade area. Breaks my heart too that the whole Australian bush theme was destroyed with the vintage cars moving, the paddle wheeler closing and the unique bushranger show gone. Hate that ABC / Wiggles is squished into where it is too. All that should be in the larger kids area in Madagascar. On that, Pandamonium is out of place there. It should be up in Ocean Parade too. The massive waterfall off the Wipeout Wave was awesome but didn't last long after opening. And the list goes on! Dreamworld used to have tightly themed areas, and space between those themed areas, adding a sense of leaving one / arriving at a distinctive place. Now's it just one big shopping mall where every spare space had a kiosk added. If Dreamworld were a Westfield, we've got a butcher next to a clothes shop and dentist next to a fruit shop. The really sad part is that there is just no practical way to ever fix these poor decisions and lack of planning and vision #fml Ps I also hate that ToT runs through the park, killing the vibe and tranquility of Every. Other. Area. Pss Hated Buzzsaw being added to Goldrush... never felt right. I guess they wanted something to advertise to the carpark and highway but by doing so they disrespected the park further. Buzzsaw should have had a different theme and been up in Ocean Parade too. The old Thunderbolt area could have been nicely filled and themed.

well... to be fair - they completed two rides as well - wipeout and log ride....

Fun fact, two corporate mascots, a bunch of Australian fauna and the Minister for Tourism in a Commonwealth Games Zone is not "2 koalas' in a park" and goes to show who was on the money about these kind of activations and promotional events being so important. I don't even know what your point is anymore.